THE ST. LOUIS CHERTS AND LIMESTONES

The St. Louis limestones and cherts are the surface rocks in the northeastern part of the county, and cover an irregular tract of about seventy-four square miles, being all of Northeast, nearly all of Orleans, the northeast corner of Paoli, and the northern part of Stampers Creek Townships. This region of country is broken by a range of bluffs, which sets in at the sink of Lost River, thence extends to Carter’s Creek Church, thence south to Lost River. The bluffs are forty or fifty feet high, and appear to be a continuation of the lower Chester limestone hills. They are, doubtless, the results of a general system of erosion to which the whole country has been subjected, and, if so, had their existence prior to the drift period. Scattered over this tract of country are, also, basin- shaped cavities known as sink-holes, which are from a few inches to forty or fifty feet in depth, and from a few yards to five or six acres in area. The larger ones have fragments of chert on the sides, more especially on the northern and eastern parts, the.other sides having the greatest depth of clay and soil. A noticeable feature of this tract of country is the absence of springs, brooks, or any continuous and unbroken system of drainage. The excess of rain collects in the sink-holes, but soon escapes into subterranean channels, though in some places, where the channels have become closed, lasting ponds are found. This is the case generally where red clay is washed in, and made the bottom of the ponds.

THE BITUMINOUS LIMESTONE

The upper members only of the St. Louis group are seen in Orange County, and these are so obscured by coverings of clay and sand. The vermicular limestone of Prof. Collett seems to be the most northeasterly of those rocks. The bituminous limestone (No. 15 above) may be seen on the west bank of Carter’s Creek, on the farm of C. Wires. Section 32, Township 3 north, Range 1 east, the section there being as follows:

At this place and near the county line on Lost River the bituminous limestone is even, heavy-bedded, dark-bluish or black, and emits a feted odor when struck with a hammer. On exposure to the weather it exfoliates and splits into thin laminae. It outcrops in the deep holes along the bottom of Carter’s Creek to Island Church, and down Lost River to Trimble’s Graveyard. Above the bituminous limestone is a thin seam of impure cannel coal. rarely as thick as four inches. It may be seen in many places along Carter’s Creek. It burns quite readily, but will not be found in quantities worth working.

THE ARGILLACEOUS LIMESTONE

Above the coal trace is argillaceuus limestone (No. 13 above). It is compact. thin-bedded, grayish, with a subconchoidal fracture, and possesses hydraulic properties. On the Trimble farm it is thirty feet thick, and on Section 6, Township 2 north, Range 1 east, is fifteen feet thick. In places it is earthy or rotten. Its section at the last place is as follows:

FEET Slope with fragments of chert. thin-bedded stone and fossils valves of Spirifer and Retzia (No. 11 above) 3 Porous limestone (No. 12 above) 4 Argillaceous limestone (No. 1.3 above) 15     Total 22

Fossils are well preserved only in the chert. In the argillaceous strata was found a large cast of Bellerophon. The porous limestone (No. 12) is soft and earthy, will not make good lime, but is better as cement rock. The lithological characters of the strata change as Lost River and Carter’s Creek are descended, as most of the members become more compact, and the argillaceous is used for the foundations of houses. On Lost River, at the crossing of the Orleans and Livonia Road, the following is the section:

	FEET
Slope with cherty fragments and fossils of Producti, Lithostrotion, Bellerophon, Dentalium, etc.	16
Concretionary limestone, with fossils of Productus cora, Spirifer, and plates of Archaeocidaris Worthni and Crinoidal stems	24
Porous limestone (No. 12)	6
Compact limestone (No. 13)	10
Total	56

THE CONCRETIONARY LIMESTONE

The concretionary limestone is a massive stone of grayish color, usually breaking with conchoidal fracture and possesses many of the properties of a lithographic stone. The concretions are thin flat plates or nodules, the rounded forms being amorphous geodes without fossils. They are of all shapes, often bearing striking resemblance to some fruit or the head of some animal, and under a good glass are very beautiful. The laminated form occurs in irregular masses, ranging from a few lines to two or more inches in thickness, and from one to three feet in diameter. They are darker and more flinty than chert, and are nearly always fossiliferous. This strata is found in great abundance in Orleans, Paoli and Stampers Creek Townships beneath the soil and chert. It is exposed in a tract of country about five miles wide, extending from Orleans toward Livonia. It may be seen on Section 2, Township 2 north, Range 1 west, at the railroad cut east of Orleans; below the sink of Lost River, where it becomes more magnesian, is almost destitute of bryozoans and is rarely lithographic. On the farm of Mr. Hicks, Orangeville Township, the concretionary limestone has been quarried in three strata with shaly partings. The three differ in shade and fineness, but all are very beautiful and valuable. They are susceptible of tbe highest polish, are locally used for tombstones, and slabs; when struck with a hammer, ring like a bar of steel. His quarry is very valuable. At the fourth sink of Lost River the section is as follows:*

	FEET
General level of surrounding farms	25-30
High water mark	6
Chert in loose masses on river bank	2 to 4
Crystalline limestone	8 to 10
Thin shales and detritus	10
Soft magnesian limestone	46
Lithostrotion limestone	8 to 18
Disappearance of the river	8 to 10
Subterranean level near gulf above the sea	430

The court house at Paoli is 109 feet above the sink of Lost River, and hence is 599 feet above the level of the sea.

*From the report of Prof. Richard Owen in 1859—60.

THE FIRESTONES

All the strata of this concretionary stone contain Producti, Spirifer striatus, and fragments of Archaeocidaris Wortheni in the upper crystalline member and Lithostrotion Canadense in the chert. Farther west the stone becomes darker and less fossiliferous. The top member is often evenly bedded, the laminae ranging in thickness from one inch to two feet. This stone is locally known as “firestone” and is used for hearths, jambs, etc. It can be split, into almost any shape with the hammer, and resists heat well. On B. P. Chatham’s farm south of Orleans the following is the section:

	FEET
Slope covered	16
Building stone white and fine grained (No. 8)	6
Lithographic limestone (No. 8 above)	18
Chert, fossiliferous (No. 9 above)	2
Firestone, thin bedded (No. 10)	10
Massive limestone (No. 10)	12
Total	64

The firestones also outcrop on the Orleans and Orangeville road just west of the Lost River crossing below the Bruner farm, also on that farm, also near Orangeville and north of the sand hill near Orleans.

THE ST. LOUIS CHERTS

These rocks, by reason of greater hardness, have resisted the eroding effects of time and the action of water, ice, etc., during the drift period, better than the strata surrounding them, and are, hence, found strewn over the surface of the ground and buried in the red clays. Besides the regular beds there are large quantities of smaller specimens from the concretionary limestone. Lithologically the varieties differ very much. Those on the western and southern borders of the St. Louis limestones are red from infiltration of hydrous peroxide of iron, while those in the northeast part and along Stampers Creek are made brown by the brown oxide of iron. Those that are highly bryozoic are soft, easily broken or split, breaking into irregular fragments, while the very hard varieties break into square or wedge-shaped pieces. The latter may be seen on the Paoli and Orleans road. They contain valves of Spirifer. Where the stone has been protected it is usually very hard and siliceous, is gray in color and has many fossils. Here it is a true “buhrstone” and was used as such in the old Orangeville mill. The bryozoans are very perfect and beautiful, and are usually Polypora, though Pinna are found over five inches long. Crinoids are missing, though a small star-fish was found near Orleans. The cherts when decomposed by the admixture of iron form the red clays (paint). The clays are numerous. At Wesley Chapel Gulf the section is as follows:

	FEET
Slope, with sandstone capping the hill, massive limestone, with shaly partings and thin beds of argillaceous stone	60
Chert, fossiliferous (No.9)	3
Concretionary limestone (No. 10)	30
Total	93

THE CHESTER GROUP

This group embraces the remaining stones of the county, except those capping the hills on the west and south parts of the county, and belonging to the conglomerate or millstone grit epoch. The western and southern boundary of these formations is about as follows: From about five miles of the northwestern corner of the county, thence south to French Lick Springs, thence in a curvilinear course to the south part of the county west of Valeene. At the base of these formations is Chester limestone (No. 8 above).

CHESTER LIMESTONE, LOWEST MEMBER

This is remarkable for its thickness and its great uniformity of lithological characters and structure. A single specimen will represent the entire county. The rock is massive, crystalline, frequently lithographic, and very evenly stratified. The fossils are given above in No. 8. The following is the section of this member at sand hill near Orleans:

	FEET
Sandstone, base glass sand (No. 7)	22
Heavy bedded limestone, lithographic and crystalline quarry stone. Fossils—Phillipsia, Euomphadus, Bellerophon, Retzia, Pleurotomaria, Terebratula, Rhynchonella Athyris (No. 8)	35
Chester chert (No. 8)	1
Limestone in thin strata. Fossils—Athyris and Syringopora (No. 8)	54
St. Louis chert (No. 9)	2
Total	92

This quarry has been quite extensively worked for its limestone, the foundation of the depot at Orleans coming therefrom. Lime is burned successfully from the lower member. The following is the section of this member at "Acre Sinkhole", Stampers Creek:

	FEET
Heavy bedded quarry sandstone (No. 5)	10
Compact massive limestone. Fossils—Productus, Spirifer, Archimedes and Pentremites (No. 6)	25
Coarse sandstone, partly covered (No. 7)	70
Limestone with nodules of flint. Fossils—Euomphalus and Terebratula (No. 8)	40
Chester chert	1
Heavy bedded limestone (No. 8)	45
Total	191

The lower Chester limestone is here filled with black flint nodules, and the chert has much the appearance of, and many of the properties of, true flint or hornstone, and might properly be called flint. On the top of the hill where the above section was taken is "Acre Sinkhole", a cavity almost perfectly round, and about sixty feet deep, with very abrupt sides. No chert is found on its sides, and it has no subterranean outlet.

THE CHESTER SANDSTONES

The upper sandstone (No. 5) is very evenly stratified, buff-colored, and is easily quarried by a little stripping in good blocks from one to three feet thick. It makes excellent foundations for barns and residences, where great weight is absent. It weathers well. There are quarries on Locust Hill, and on the lands of Mrs. Clements and Henry Polson. The following is the section at Albert’s Hill, Paoli:

	FEET
Massive Sandstone. Fossils—leaves and stems of Stigamoria (No. 5)	30
Blue Shales (No. 5)	6
Crystalline limestone with Producti, Pentremites, Archimedes, Spirifer, Athyris and stems of Crinoides (No. 6.)	16
Encrinital limestone (No. 6)	14
Sandstone (No. 7)	8
Decomposed Limestone, local	12
Sandstone, massive (No. 7)	22
Crystalline massive limestone No. 8)	18
Lithographic limestone (No. 8)	70
Total	196

Chester sandstone (No. 7), in many places a shale of no value, is in the vicinity of Paoli an even bedded rock, sometimes thick enough to make good quarry stone. East of town, on the Kibler farm, are quarries of the stone. On J. C. Albert’s land, Section 25, Township 2 north; Range 1 west, is a quarry of tea-green stone, from which blocks of almost any size may be taken. These stones are excellent for flagging. On Lick Creek the lower Chester limestone has been found good for building purposes. It is comparatively soft and friable when taken out, but becomes hard and extremly durable upon long exposure. It was used in the foundation of the court house. It contains inconvenient glass seams. The following is the section at Orangeville:

	FEET
Massive sandstone stained with iron	45
Middle Chester limestone (No. 6)	19
Shaly sandstone (No. 7)	18
Ocher, with traces of coal and iron	1
Lower Chester limestone, with Terebratula and Rhynchonella	95
St. Louis limestone to low water	30
Total	208

The lower Chester is the prevailing limestone at Chambersburg, Valeene and the southeastern parts of the county. It is exposed on the hillsides and in the valleys of Greenfield, Jackson, French Lick, Orangeville and Northwest Townships, and is the only limestone of any economic value in these regions. The following is the section on the road south of French Lick:

	FEET
Conglomerate. sandstone (No. 3)	45
Upper Chester limestone. with band of chert at top and with Archimedes, Athyris, Pentremites, Spirifer and Producti	15
Coarse sandstone (No. 5)	35
Coarse grit (No. 5)	20
Massive sandstone (No. 5)	40
Blue Shale (No. 5)	12
Middle Chester limestone (No. 6)	18
Sandstones and blue shales	31
Total	216

THE CHESTER GRIT

Here is shown the Chester sandstone (upper) of good depth and development. In it is found the true grindstone grits and valuable building stone. Commercially, next to the whetstone grit, it is the most valuable stratum of stone in the county. Locally it is of sufficient firmness and fineness to be manufactured. Quarries have been opened by T. N. Braxtan, J. Lane, H. Lashbrook, W. Lashbrook and J. Bledsoe, all in Township 1 north, Range 2 west. The stone is quarried in large blocks, and cut with a saw into slabs of the required thickness. These are then cut into smaller pieces and polished. Owing to the coarseness of the stone it is manufactured into scythe stones, etc.

THE CONGLOMERATE OR MILLSTONE GRIT

This stone is found in the north and west parts of the county. In the north it is well developed and is thus a mass of weather-worn rock, composed of quartz-ore pebbles, cemented together with coarse sand. In the central and southern part it loses its pudding-stone appearance, and can only be distinguished from the other sandstones by its position above the upper Chester limestone. Locally it becomes a fine-grained, compact grit stone. The following is the section at Braxtan’s quarry, taken from the east side of the hill:

	FEET
Friable sandstone (No. 3)	30
Coal, probably Coal A	1
Coarse sandstone, with Stigmeria leaves and iron ore near the base	50
Whetstone grit with Lepidodendra, Calamites, Stigmaria, Sphenopteris, Neuropteris and near the base Paoli Vetusta (No. 3)	21
Coal	a trace
Coarse sandstone, locally glass sand (No. 3)	40
Upper Chester limestone with chert partly covered	15
Sandstone and shale (No. 5)	90
Middle Chester limestone (No. 6)	20
Shales and sandstones	40
Lower Chester limestone, with a shaly parting near the top to the level of French Lick Spring	20
Total	327

Quarries have been opened by T. N. Braxtan, William Able, George Reily, Lynch & Wolfington, E. Pinnick, J. A. Moore, S. Wolfington and others. Specimens of ferns and other plants are taken out of the lower member of the grit, and are often very fine and of uncommon size. Excellent specimens have been sent to various geological collections. Dishman and Lewis have quarries on Section 23, Township 3 north, Range 2 west. At the latter’s quarry the coal seam is said to be two feet thick. The fine grits are evenly stratified and may be split with great ease. Two colored stones are quarried, white and buff. The first is called “Hindostan” and the second "Orange" stone. The Hepidodendra of these beds are remarkable for size. A tree uncovered for twelve feet was four feet eleven inches in diameter. The fossiliferous beds are not worked as the stone will not split. The thin shaly partings that come out in large plates are ripple-marked and covered with tracks of crustaceans or other animals. Dendrites are found of remarkable size and beauty, and run through the substance of the solid stone.

LACUSTRAL OR ALLUVIUM

The fine impalpable lacustral sands and clays are found in Northeast and Stampers Creek Townships in the "flat woods". Their thickness is from five to twenty-five feet, and they cover an area of about twenty square miles. Wherever gum and persimmon trees are indigenous to the soil, the fine sands of this epoch may be found. The damp, impervious soils of Patoka River and near French Lick are lacustral. Along the creeks and rivers of the northern and central parts of the county the alluvium is found well developed. Beds of gravel of unusual size are found in the valley of Lost River and are traceable to the lacustral epoch.

LOST RIVER, STAMPERS CREEK, CAVES, ETC.

Lost River makes its first sink on Section 4, Township 3 north, Range 1 east, upon reaching the eastern exposure of the concretionary limestone. It makes its second on Section 8, its third on Section 13. Township 3 north, Range 1 west, and its fourth on Section 11. In dry weather the first sink takes all the water, which is not seen again until it reaches Orangeville. Light rains will overflow the first sink and the surplus enters the second sink. Heavy and continuous rains will fill the dry bed from the second sink to Orangeville, as the subterranean passages are not of sufficient size. These passages are a complex system of mains and leads, and not a single channel through which the water rushes. They do not follow the course of the surface bed. On Sections 33 and 34, whenever the water is of sufficient quantity to enter the fourth sink, it rises through three openings and flows on through the dry bed. This dry bed is not an open channel and is unlike the valley of the usual streams. Large upland forest trees grow along the bank showing that for a long time the river has been lost in the concretionary limestone. The underground stream may be reached at the fourth sink, where the cavernous opening is about eight feet wide and four feet high, the descent being gradual and 590 feet. The river comes to the surface on Section 9, Township 3 north, Range I west Here the subterranean stream may also be reached through a cave. At Orangeville is said to be the rise of Lost River, though it is probable that the true rise is on the Higgins farm, about a mile further down the stream. Stampers Creek, in a small way, is a counterpart of Lost River, lacking the dry bed. It sinks and is thought to rise again at Spring Mills, and forms the source of Lick Creek. It is said that sawdust and other fine material has been passed through, thus proving the theory. There are in the county ten or twelve caves, several of which are deep and beautiful. New ones are boing discovered yearly, and doubtless many others will come to light in the future. In several are stalactites and stalagmites of great purity and beauty. Doubtless the foundation of Orange County is honey-combed, and future generations will make surprising discoveries. It is said that a cave a quarter of a mile deep underlies Paoli. In the caves and subterranean streams are found several varieties of blind fish, blind crawfishes, etc.

FRENCH LICK AND WEST BADEN SPRINGS

These springs in the valley of French Lick Creek break out through the fissures of the Lower Chester limestone, and doubtless get their mineral constituents and gases from the shales, clays and stones through which they originate and flow. Many break out, but in only two places are they fully utilized - French Lick and West Baden. These places have become popular resorts for recreation and for invalids, and accommodations are furnished pleasure and health-seekers. In the hands of persons of greater public enterprise and less parsimony the springs could be made of much greater benefit to the public. The analysis of "Pluto Well", by Prof. E. T. Cox, State Geologist in 1869—70, gave the follow- ing results: The gaseous contents of one imperial gallon were, in cubic inches, carbonic acid, 7,337; sulphydric acid, 6,717; oxygen, 5,407; nitrogen. 18,504; total, 38,045. Total solid matter in one gallon. 381.85 grains:

	Parts in 1,000,000 or pounds in 100,000 gallons	Grains in one gallon
Silicic acid	9.42	0.6594
Oxide of iron	1.90	0.1330
Lime	675.92	47.3144
Soda	1140.20	79.8140
Potash	41.72	2.9204
Magnesia	723.26	50.6282
Alumina	48.10	3.3670
Chlorine	1185.96	83.0172
Carbonic acid	690.55	48.3385
Sulphuric acid	845.55	59.1883
Iodides and bromides	trace	trace
Totals	5362.58	375.3806

The analysis of the principal spring at West Baden by Prof. Cox gave the following result: The gaseous contents of one imperial gallon in cubic inches - carbonic acid, 6,198; sulphydric acid. 5,931; oxygen, 2,093; nitrogen, 6,572; total, 20,794. Total solid matter in one gallon, 381.85 grains:

	Parts in 1,000,000 or pounds in 100,000 gallons	Grains in one gallon
Silicic acid	7.50	0.5250
Oxide of iron	1.50	0.1050
Lime	539.11	37.7377
Soda	765.26	53.5682
Potash	19.37	1.3559
Magnesia	610.76	42.7532
Alumina	43.50	3.0450
Chlorine	779.26	54.5482
Carbonic acid	675 21	47.2647
Sulphuric acid	601.30	42.0910
Iodides and bromides	trace	trace
Totals	4042.77	282.9939

 

A few springs of more or less value are found in other parts of the county. One on the farm of Hon. D. S. Huffstutter, near Orleans, is chalybeate in character, and has quite a local reputation. Another is on the Higgins farm, near Orangeville.

THE COAL OF THE COUNTY

As but little has been done to expose the seams of coal, such as there are, their full nature, extent and value cannot be set out in these pages. Two seams are known to exist, of which the upper, Coal A, possesses some economic value. This coal is found in all the higher hills in the western part of the county overlying, the heavy conglomerate sandstone which is above the whetstone grit. The outcrop of this coal may be seen on Section 32, Township 2 north, Range 2 west. It is a dry, semi-block coal, and burns too loosely for good smithing purposes. It would be well to work this coal for local use. A true block, sub-conglomerate coal thirty inches thick has been found and mined on Section 8, Township 1 north, Range 2 west. This coal is found a few feet below the whetstone grit. Farther north it thins out and becomes worthless. Just above the Lower Chester limestone is another coal from one to four inches thick It will not pay to work this seam, though some money has thus been spent. One mile north of Paoli, on the farm of Mr. Gassaway, this coal outcrops. In the central and eastern parts of the county, in the St. Louis limestone, is found a thin seam of cannel coal, which will not pay to work. The two seams first mentioned above will pay to work in localities.

IRON ORES

In all the hills in the western part of the county, in the conglomerate above the whetstone grit, is found a considerable quantity of the hydrated brown oxide of iron. An analysis made by Prof. Cox, developed the important fact that the ore contained over fifty per cent of metallic iron. The ore is from three to ten feet thick, and will justify the erection of blast furnaces at many places in the western part of the county when proper railroad facilities are secured. The same ore is smelted at the blast furnace in Shoals, and when combined with Missouri ores furnishes an excellent neutral iron.

WHETSTONES AND GRINDSTONES

The excellence of the grit of Orange County is well known, and is not surpassed by any other in existence. Ax stones, carpenter stones, "slips", etc. of the best quality are readily manufactured. The past has been more fruitful in the number and extent of manufacturing establishments of this character than the present. Steam was employed as well as horses, and many stones were sent to England and elsewhere. The Hindostan grit is celebrated for its uniform texture and keen bite, and its solidity under high revolving speed. Many grindstones have been manufactured from the grindstone grit of the Chester group. Beds of whetstone and grindstone grit are inexhaustable, and will eventually be a source of great revenue to the county when shipping facilities are quicker and better.

LIME, CLAY. BUILDING STONE, ETC.

Several members of the St. Louis limestone in the eastern and central portions of the county furnish good lime, though the best comes from the Lower Chester. In early years this stone was thus burned in Lost River, near West Baden, and the lime shipped on flatboats to Southern markets. It has been burned for local use in the county ever since. The fine lacustral clay in the northeast part of the county is excellent for stoneware, and was thus used at Lancaster for a time. Kaolin is found in the county. Specimens of Indianite have been found on Section 20, Township 3 north, Range 1 west. A three-foot stratum of fine yellow ocher is exposed on Section 7, Township 1 north, Range 2 west. Limestone and sandstone suitable for building are found in great abundance. One member of the Lower Chester limestone furnishes, in many parts of the county, a good, fine-grained and easily worked stone, which is white as alabaster. It is quarried at the sand hill, near Orleans, is exposed on the Orleans and Paoli road, two miles from Orleans, and found on Section 5 Township 2 north. Range 1 east. The Lower Chester sandstone is often good for building purposes. It is obtained thus on Section 25. Township 2 north, Range 1 west. It is light tea-colored, and the upper members make good flagging stone and the lower good building stone.

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